News
Local

Rachelle Lavoie, Jessica Beliveau and Alister Green prepare Saturday night’s pasta dinner held at the South Porcupine Scout Hall by the BASIC group of Timmins. BASIC raised funds to further their efforts with the Yo! Mobile and their campaign to see a new homeless shelter built in Timmins.

Steam obscured the view into the South Porcupine Scout Hall on Saturday evening from the warmth of dozens and dozens of hungry Timmins residents enjoying a pasta dinner, complete with the most nourishing factor of all, the knowledge of giving back.

The dinner was hosted by BASIC, a group of Northern College students whose aim is the change the world a little bit at a time, from a simple plate of delicious alfredo to supporting the Yo! Mobile. These initiatives are part of a class project. The social services worker program at Northern College includes a class called community organization and development.

Through this class, the group of second-year students have to form an organization in order to help a cause and raise awareness about a social issue.

“Tonight has been amazing. We’ve gotten a huge amount of support. The hall is jam packed,” said BASIC member Suzan Green. “Our supporters have come through so spectacularly through word of mouth and our own campaigning efforts, we've come so far, done so much and we're not near finished yet.”

The group successfully re-instated the Yo! Mobile after mechanical issues halted its good work for the homeless of Timmins and now they are engaged in a campaign through the Aviva Community Fund to develop a new homeless shelter in Timmins.

“Our team efforts have been incredible,” said Green. “A set amount of money isn’t what we are going for here. It is the awareness that is important. If they know about the cause itself ... the fact that we are joining together as a community to support the members of our community is what truly matters.”

BASIC member Dan Lascelle added, “People are already talking so much about the reasons behind this past dinner. People are talking about their experiences with Yo! It is really touching because we are affecting the town and we really didn't think that we’d get this reaction this quickly.”

The genuine reaction from the community is a massively effective motivator for Lascelle and his fellow BASIC members.

“Of course seeing this pumps me up.” he said. “The second that I talk to people and they show just a little bit of interest in this is just a natural high. This is why I took social work, to help. This is the reason why everyone in BASIC is doing this, to help people with their basic needs.”

Although the journey thus far has been a short one, the sky is the limit for both Green, Lascelle and the rest of the BASIC team.

“Speaking for myself, I set out wanting to change the world and I feel that we are doing that right now,” said Green. “As a team, I don’t think we realized how far we would actually be able to go. There is so much determination coming through our group, a lot of very intelligent people coming together and showing the world what you can do when you set out to do it.